Ocular effects of hepatitis c virus antiviral drugs

Purpose The goal of this research is to find out the incidence of any ophthalmic adverse effects associated with sofosbuvir − ribavirin combination therapy in comparison with sofosbuvir − ribavirin − interferon combination therapy in patients having chronic hepatitis C. Patients and methods A prospective nonrandomized comparative study was carried on 80 eyes of 40 patients with a documented diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C referred by the Internal Medicine and Hepatogastroenterology Department. Study group 1 (20 patients; 40 eyes) patients enrolled in the dual-therapy delineation (a 24-week regimen of 400 mg/day sofosbuvir and a 600 mg/day ribavirin) and study group 2 (20 patients; 40 eyes) patients registered in the triple-therapy planning (12-week regimen of sofosbuvir and ribavirin plus 180-µg peginterferon α-2a subcutaneously weekly). All recorded patients were subjected to entire ophthalmic examination before the medicaments strategy inauguration with periodic examination at 3 and 6 months during the treatment plan using Schirmer test and tear film breakup time test. Results Retinopathy has been evidenced at 3 months after treatment onset in 15% of group 2 candidates and receded at 6 months, which dates 3 months after treatment termination, with no cases of retinopathy in group 1 patients; the difference was statistically insignificant. Schirmer test and tear film breakup time results changed significantly over the 6-month study period. In study group 1, values of both tests decreased at 3 months after the start of sofosbuvir antiviral drug therapy and continued to dwindle throughout the period of follow-up. On the contrary, in study group 2, they decreased at 3 months after treatment onset but came to the common standard values 3 months after treatment discontinuation. Conclusion In our research, both study groups show that the drug-induced dry eye effects were in any event reasonably mild and had trivial effect on one’s daily performance. The retinal lesions in our patients were peacefully asymptomatic, as there were no effects on the best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in all patients throughout the 6-month study period.